Change Name of User Profile Folder in Windows 10  

Hi

I inherited a laptop from a family member named Louise. As such, the original user folder name is "Louise" (C:\Users\Louise). What I want to do is change that user name to my name, which is James (C:\Users\James)

So I followed all the excellent instructions in the tutorial.

However, when I got to Steps 10-12 in order to change the name to the one I changed it to in the registry (James), I keep getting "The action can't be completed because the folder or file is open in another program. Close the folder or file and try again". However, there is no folder or file open, at least none that I can see.

Moreover, when I went back to the registry entry I made in order to check that the change was still there, I see that the new entry was still there (James), but I also see that ".bak" was added to the sid. Is this normal?

Any ideas?

Hi Brink

As far as I know, there was only one account to sign out from. So I followed the instructions in order to sign out from that account and I'm quite sure that I signed out from it. I then created/enabled the built-in Administrator account.

I'd hate to have to reset Windows if I can do this some other way....in other words, figure out what is stopping me from changing the name in Windows Explorer....in other words, find out what folder or file is open...

Brink said:

Were you signed in to the built-in Administrator account when making these changes?

Yes

I usually just create a new administrator account and sign in to that one and remove/delete the previous account with all the old user data.

Brink said:

It sounds like the profile got corrupted, and would recommend a reset.

Otherwise, you could try doing the steps while in Safe Mode signed in to the built-in Administrator.

Boot into Safe Mode on Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials

Be sure to correct the registry settings to remove .bak and have the correct path and name to the renamed user profile folder.

Fix You've been signed in with a temporary profile in Windows 10 | Windows 10 Tutorials

Thank you.

In the end, using your "Fix You've been signed in with a temporary profile in Windows 10" tutorial, I decided to simply go back to the original setup I had with "C:\Users\Louise" and I will now have a look at possibly resetting the computer. It seems that that is only way I will be able to change the "Users" folder name as I don't really feel like trying the Safe Mode route at this point.

Thanks again, Brink
JJazzz

Hi.
So, I followed ALL the instructions properly, but after signing into my account again, it shows an error and I can't see my Desktop and just whenever I open anything like explorer, or even sign-in, it shows this error. Seems like a problem with my OneDrive, but I did everything correctly. I am attaching a screenshot of the error message. My previous username was "mamma", and I wanted to change it (for obvious reasons) to "Mamman". But this is the error that it shows:
I even unlinked it totally after sometime, just to see if it works, but it still showed the same message. Please Help ASAP.